


Magnolias and Chrysanthemum's

by SouthernCross



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Romance, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 15:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18502093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SouthernCross/pseuds/SouthernCross
Summary: There was no judgment in his look, she had seen those, or any kind of leer, she had definitely seen those.  No, he just looked curious.  She could work with curious.





	Magnolias and Chrysanthemum's

**Author's Note:**

> This might be the sweetest and fluffiest and most wholesome fic I have ever written. Please enjoy!

Darcy could feel him  staring, she ignored it.  Kept moving around the kitchen, she knew there were goldfish hiding around here somewhere.  She had felt his eyes on her before, that wasn't unusual, what surprised her was the fact that he wasn't even trying to hide it, that was strange.  James was trained in all the stealthy assassin stuff so if he hadn't wanted her to know about the staring than she would never had known. That begged the question, why, why was he staring, why was he letting her know.  This was really not why why she had crept into the communal kitchen at what the hell ever time of the night to get something salty.

 

The big resident only kitchen and living room was not somewhere she went often, she wasn’t not allowed to go there, but she preferred her small kitchen to eat her delivery meals and late afternoon cereal cravings.  Jane had gotten a pretty sweet offer to work at the Stark facility in upstate New York, and since Darcy had been able to work anywhere. Her social media strategy job being exclusively online work, she had taken Jane up on the offer to tagalong.  Honestly she was getting the better part of the deal.

 

Free rent and food and all she had to do was translate Jane’s handwriting into a legible language for the other scientists to coo over.  Yeah, she could admit that the universe was giving her a nice scoop of life after the insanity that had been the last, what 5, 6, years.

 

Darcy pretty much kept to the labs and the occasional trip to the indoor swimming pool, but over the past six months she had met most of the Avengers, and she had gotten pretty inured to the hotness that the saviors of the Earth exuded.  Even Captain, please call me Steve, America had gotten her a little weak in the knees. That had passed though, he was entirely too put together for her, although he was a smart ass which she could absolutely appreciate. So, she had indulged in the pretty and then gone about her business.

 

At least she had until she had met one James Buchanan Barnes.  Steve had called him Bucky, so had Sam, but he had introduced himself as James extended a hand and she had taken it and not quite let go.  James Barnes was a level of pretty that exceeded even her thick skin. The eyes, the lips, the thighs, he had literally been put together in such a way as to absolutely unmake her.  Had it been just lust she would have been able to deal with that, but he was sweet and snarky, and resilient in way that made her want to smoosh his cheeks and tuck warm blankets around him.  She had been briefed on his life before his arrival with Steve and Sam, warned about what had been done to him and the triggers, and her heart had ached for him.

 

That hadn’t stopped her from treating him like she did everyone else, with sass and smiles and smart assed comments.  All of which he seemed to like. None of which explained the staring. Taking a deep breath she reached into the oversized box of goldfish and took a handful.  Turning towards where he hovered by the door she popped a few in her mouth and eyed him.

 

Thank Thor he had finally cut his hair, it wasn’t as short as the old photos of Bucky Barnes she had seen, but he had finally dropped the hot hobo look and her ladybits had been ever so grateful.  Nearly choking on her goldfish, she reached for the glass of orange juice she had poured. Crisis averted she glared over at him, it was totally his fault, what with the short hair cut and soft looking shirt and holy shit his feet were bare.  That should not be as hot as it was.

 

‘It’s rude to stare,’ she tilted her chin up and crossed her arms, too late she realized she was wearing a sports bra and a tank top.  Oh, that explained the staring. Still it was rude to stare. Had he not seen them before? She tried to think back over their interactions and she supposed that no, he hadn’t seen her in anything other than shirts and cardigans and leggings.  He had moved in at the end of October, too cold for tank tops and shorts, and even though it was the middle of April she was thin blooded enough to still layer. 

 

Besides she had never been one to broadcast her body or her choices.  So yeah, the staring.

 

‘Sorry,’ his voice was rough and a little hesitant, her heart twinged at that and she uncrossed her arms, trying she hoped for a smile.  

 

‘It’s okay.  I don’t mind,’ and she didn’t, not really.  There was no judgment in his look, she had seen those, or any kind of leer, she had definitely seen those.  No, he just looked curious. She could work with curious.

 

He took a step forward, she ate another handful of crackers.  ‘I didn’t realize you haven't seen them before.’ She extended her left arm, the recessed lighting automatically low given the hour of the night, but there was enough lumination to see the ink stretching from shoulder to just above her elbow.  

 

The magnolias and chrysanthemums twisted around her arm where they met the swallow at her collarbone.  A garland of poppies and lemons strung across her chest, held up by another swallow on her right side. As deliberate and cohesive as the work on her left arm was her right arm was riot of symbols and scenes, art making up the memories that had meant the most.  A pen and inkwell for her Mom, a stethoscope for her brother, the stars for Jane, Thor’s hammer, and a tiny stonehenge for Eric. There was more and he listened intently as she talked about each one.

 

He had been especially fascinated by her dermals, the tiny studs scattered across her chest, tucked into the ink.  They had been a pain to heal but she loved them. James seemed to like them as well. After the initial shock he had made no attempt to hide his curiosity and like of all of her body art and she was so onboard with that.  

 

Her legs were not as heavily inked, she had gotten stalled after the garter on her right thigh [(he had gone bright red in the face and his mouth had opened and then closed) she would have shown him if he had asked but they weren't there yet] and had begun her back piece.

 

‘Do you have any,’ she hadn’t seen any but that didn’t mean there weren’t some hiding.

 

‘Nah, some of the guys in the Army had some but I never got around to their way of thinking, and then,’ he trailed off.

 

And then his life and his body had been stolen from him for the next seventy years.  Smart Darce, good one.

 

‘Well there’s nothing stopping you from getting one now.’

 

His eyes had met hers and the smile he had given her was big and bright and she knew she was in deep, deep trouble.

 

That late night meeting had turned into hours talking about tattoos, what they meant, what they could mean.  James had started coming over to her place, they poured over websites and watched youtube videos.

 

‘I’m not even sure they would take,’ he had confessed over the ribs and macaroni and cheese they had had delivered.

 

‘What,’ she asked around a mouth of the fried brussel sprouts she had been curious about and yes there were better than she had imagined.

 

He put down his beer and wiped his hands on a wet wipe, making her smile, distracted.  ‘The serum, I heal fast, it might not even let me keep one if I get one.’

 

‘When,’ she corrected automatically.  It’s true there were a lot of unknowns about his serum and the effects on his body.  None of the initial research conducted on him while he had been a POW had survived the war and while the detailed reports HYDRA had kept on the soldier in the intervening years had talked about what they had they had not been detailed in the science of it, just the results.  HYDRA had kept those secrets close to their chest.

 

‘Your body accepted the sexy arm,’ she poked his silver bicep.  James rolled his eyes and huffed out a laugh. He had been hesitant at first not letting her near that side of him and never, ever touching her with it.  She had watched him, he seemed at ease with his left hand, she could tell that he thought of it as just his arm, but clearly he thought he was the only one.

 

So she had begun operation barnacle.  Every time she saw him she attached herself to his left arm, either by sitting on that side on the couch, grabbing that hand when she thought he wasn’t moving fast enough for her or simply sliding her arm through him when they went walking through the woods around the complex.  He had finally stopped flinching when his left arm bumped hers and she considered the operation a success.

 

They had debated whether or not the integration of his arm into his system would translate into getting tattoos, a strange way to pass an evening but she honestly couldn’t think of anyone else she would want to spend her evenings with.  Darcy considered herself self aware, she knew her intelligence was undermined because of her looks, she knew she was the worst kind of procrastinator, she knew she was kind of an adrenaline junky, she knew she wanted to be a mom. And she with one hundred percent certainty that she had fallen for James Barnes, and she was almost as certain that he had fallen for right back.

 

Neither one of them had made a move.  And neither one had not made a move. There were touches, hand holding, long talks, and cuddling on the couch.  They were a thing, an unnamed thing, but one that had her saying no when the cute barista asked her for her number and being okay with it.  James was worth the wait and she was content for the moment with what they had. When she had mentioned that her next tattoo appointment was coming up, she was determined to finish her back before summer got here, she asked him if he wanted to tag along.

 

James had been impressed by the entire process, she had been worried that something might have triggered him, but if he had been uncomfortable at all he had hidden it well.  Nico, the artist she had been using since moving to New York, had been his usual fun and geeky self. They had bonded over comics and video games on her first visit and she had enjoyed the hours spent in his shop.  When she had explained that she was bringing a friend he had teased her, when she had pulled out the NDA’s and mentioned her friend’s name the teasing had stopped.

 

Darcy had known that Nico had served, that his time in Iraq had been difficult.  What she hadn’t known was how he would react to James. The Winter Soldier had done a lot of damage, but Bucky Barnes had been a war hero in his own right.  James just didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable. Nico had read over what she had brought him, signed the papers, and agreed to meet with him. 

 

When Nico had extended a hand to James and given a simple, ‘Thank you for your service.’ she could hardly hold back the tears.

 

On one of the smoke breaks, for Nico and James, she mentioned that James was interested in getting a tattoo.  Nico had jumped right on that and Darcy had been totally ok with the extended break since James had pulled out his phone and shown Nico the black and grey geometric pieces he was considering for his sleeve.

 

‘Geometric is a great choice, the symmetry, the balance.’  She had told James the same thing. They were perfect reflections of who James had become and what he had handled to get there.  

 

By the end of her session they had made plans to come back last week for James’ first sitting.  Nico had agreed to work hours after the shop normally closed and James asked that he be allowed to sit on one of the stools rather than the barber chair.  Darcy had winced thinking about what he had said had happened to him in a chair like that. 

 

‘Have you told Steve yet?’  They were waiting for the pizzas to finish in the oven before starting the next episode of Firefly.  His appointment was tomorrow night and she knew he had been texting with Nico finalizing the design. She was as excited for James as he was.

 

‘Not yet.  Talked to Sam about it.  He knew something was up.  Asked about it during our last talk.’  Sam had been acting as an unofficial therapist, someone James checked in with weekly, their talks, and if Sam thought there was something James needed help with would suggest a check in with James’ regular therapist.

 

‘What did he have to say?’  

 

‘Was confused at first, you know why, and where did the idea even come from.’  She saw his cheeks redden in embarrassment. ‘I had to tell him about you, you know and us, or you know not us, but-’

 

Taking pity on him she laughed and pressed a palm over his mouth.  ‘It is totally okay that you told Sam I have tattoos and it’s totally okay that you insinuate that we were together because we are even though we aren’t even having sexy times and sexy times are like totally something we should do if we are going to be together and just for the record I am all aboard the being together sexy times train.’

 

Wincing the reality of her word vomit making her feel terribly awkward she didn’t resist when James pulled her hand away from his mouth, and she didn’t blink when he leaned in close.  Their lips met, and yes it was everything that she had imagined and she had done so a lot. Reality proved to be much better than imagination.

 

Later, when they salvaged the pizzas, only slightly crispy and agreed on a repeat of Elementary rather than a Firefly episode, neither one could concentrate on anything more than touching and tasting one another in between bites of food.  James explained that Sam had been surprised when he had explained that he like the idea of modifying his body in an image he created for himself, had gone so far as to not only support his decision but openly support him.

 

Sam had really liked the designs for his arm and agreed with her that he thought the ink would take and stay, James was still unconvinced, hoping for the best but expecting the worst.  She knew he had reason to be pessimistic but she was going to do her best to stay positive for the both of them. Not that she wasn’t happy to hear about Sam, and where that conversation had ended up made her very happy, but he still had not answered her about Steve.

 

Wrapping his arms around her waist, she had settled very nicely onto his lap he explained that he worried how Steve would react.  Parts of Steve were still hanging onto the life that was, the men they had been, before the serums and the war. Darcy knew that he had asked Sam to call him James, Steve too.  Maybe it was habit or some stubborn Steve thing but he still called him Bucky and she knew it was a point of contention, so maybe it wasn’t so strange that he hadn’t said anything.

 

‘Maybe I would have let Dum Dum talk me into one eventually, Bucky Barnes might have worn some ink, but I didn’t and he hadn’t so this will be one more thing between us.’  Darcy wished she hadn’t asked, wished she could chase the sad out of his voice. 

 

‘Maybe it’s something that brings you together.  I mean he likes to draw right? You could always ask him to draw something up for you.’  James had been surprised by the suggestion and promised to think about it.

 

Then he had finally asked to see her garter and she lost all trains of thought other than his hands on her body, tracing the lines on her skin.  

 

His appointment had gone better than either of them had hoped for or expected.  

 

The ink had lasted.

 

They had their ups and downs.

 

He would get hurt on missions.

 

She would show him the fun of wandering through a flea market.  

 

He would finally get her to take some real self defence lessons.  

 

She would retreat into her head when she was frustrated.

 

They persevered

 

His whispered, ‘I love you,’ late one night after too much dessert had meant everything.  She had said it back right away, had pulled him tight against her chest and pretended not to feel his tears on her skin.

 

Steve had in fact drawn something for James, he still slipped with a Bucky now and then but he was genuinely working on it and that was important.  Darcy had been shocked to see what had taken shape, a mandala, part floral, part geometric, it was gorgeous.

 

James had told her how much he loved her that, asked if she was interested in making things a little more permanent between them.  She had indeed wanted that, through her tears she had said yes to both the ink and the ring.

 

To no one’s surprise both the bachelor party and the bachelorette parties had ended up back at Nico’s shop.  Wanda had had the idea, Steve had drawn it up, Tony had paid, Maria had picked the spot and Thor had held Bruce's hand.  They had all showed up to the wedding with highly stylized A’s on their ankles.

 

Walking down the aisle Darcy’s smile had been wide.  James had pulled her close before they exchanged vows, cupping her cheeks and pressing q quick kiss to her lips.  Ignoring the vocal protests that they were supposed to kiss after. She flipped them all the bird, it was their wedding and they could do what they wanted.  

 

A year later and Darcy had waited until dinner was done and dishes put into the washer, waited until James was on the couch remote in hand and asking her what she wanted to watch.  

 

She waited until he was looking at the screen before she casually mentioned that she had canceled her appointment with Nico.  When he asked why, his attention on her, she had shrugged moving to stand in front of him on the couch. 

 

He took her hands, pulling her close until she was standing between his knees.  'Everything okay? Did you change your mind about the design?’

 

'No, I still love the design,’ he had helped her with a geometric pattern for her right calf.  He had finished his sleeve and chest, was working his way through a large back piece. She slipped her fingers through his hair excited but admittedly nervous.  

 

'No I canceled that appointment, well all of my appointments at least for the next nine months.’

 

She saw the moment it registered, the exact second she knew her worries had been for nothing.  His face absolutely lit up, hands smoothing the shirt over her stomach. 'Darcy. For real?’

 

There were tears in her eyes when she nodded, heart swelling at the press of his kiss over her belly.  

 

'I love you baby, I love you so much,’ his words pressed into her skin and against her lips.  

 

She didn't think she would ever not get a little thrill when she heard him say that.  

 

'I love you more.’

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
